Shafaq News – Washington
The Trump administration has urged Israel to halt its military strikeson Syrian government targets and instead engage in direct talks with Damascus,a senior US official told Axios on Wednesday.
According to the official, the escalation jeopardizes emergingdiscussions between Israel and Syria over a possible security arrangement.“There had been significant progress,” the source said, referring topreliminary talks aimed at initiating normalization between the two countries.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters the United States is “veryconcerned” by Israel’s military actions and wants the violence to end.
“We told the Israelis to stand down and take a breath,” the seniorofficial said, adding that Washington is pressing for direct Israeli-Syriandialogue to address the crisis.
The backdrop to Israel’s latest strikes is a surge in violence insouthern Syria’s Suwayda province, where a Druze armed groups clashed with aBedouin gang.
When the Syrian military deployed tanks to Suwayda to quell the unrest,Israeli warplanes targeted the armored units. Damascus, reportedly by Axios,informed Israel in advance that the tank deployment was not directed at it.However, Israeli officials argued that the tanks entered a demilitarized zonethat Israel — which maintains a presence in western Syria — insists must remainfree of heavy weaponry.
According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least250 people have been killed in ongoing clashes in and around Suwayda. While theSyrian Ministry of Health said that Israeli strikes killed three people andinjured 34 others.
The Israeli government has come under increasing pressure from its ownDruze citizens, who accuse Syrian government-aligned militias of carrying out amassacre against the Druze community in Suwayda. The Druze comprise roughly 2%of Israel’s population and wield significant political influence.
Since yesterday, Israel expanded its military operations, strikingmultiple Syrian government positions in the south and in Damascus. Meanwhile,hundreds of Israeli Druze crossed the border fence in the occupied GolanHeights and entered the demilitarized buffer zone in an attempt to reachSuwayda.
#عاجل رئيس الأركان على الحدود السورية: نحن نعمل بحزم على منع تمركز جهات معادية خلف الحدود، وعلى حماية مواطني دولة إسرائيل ومنع الاعتداء على أبناء الطائفة الدرزية⭕️أجرى الجنرال إيال زامير، مساء اليوم (الأربعاء)، تقييمًا للوضع في معسكر "نَفَح" في هضبة الجولان، بمشاركة كبار قادة… pic.twitter.com/mu8pwBn7I9
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) July 16, 2025However, the senior US official revealed to Axios that Americanintelligence does not corroborate Israeli claims of Syrian governmentinvolvement in atrocities against Druze civilians. He added that Israelidecision-making appears influenced by political pressure from its domesticDruze community.
Despite US calls for restraint, the Israeli Army announced on Wednesdaythat it was deploying reinforcements to the Syrian border “to facilitate morestrikes and stop the attacks against the Druze.”
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